The Sleepy Eye cross country team hosted its first meet of the season on Aug. 26.

It was a nice day for running as it was just around 70 degrees and calm at Eagles Park. The girls team won the meet for the second straight year, beating the visiting St. James and St. Peter. Freshman Brianna Polesky finished fourth place in the girls event, while Cassidy Hacker and Kennedy Pelzel finished fifth and sixth. Polesky said she was more than happy with her fourth place result.

“At this meet last year I got sixth, so I improved.”

Polesky ran the 4K with a time of 17:36, with her best time being 15:32. She said her personal goal this year is to beat that time and go to state.

“As a team, to get better than seventh at sections because that’s what we got last year, and my individual goal is to go to state.”

On the boys side, senior Stephen Joyce took sixth place overall which was the best placement for the Sleepy Eye team. Junior Ben Jakobitz took ninth, while senior Nick DeMaris took 11th.

Head Coach Scott DeMaris said he was happy with the meet on home turf.

“We had a number of runners who competed in their first meet ever. It was good to see them compete very well.”